Menthofuran (3,6-dimethyl-4,5,6,7-tetrahydrocoumarone) is one of the major constituent for aroma of the essential oil extracted from the leaves of Mentha piperita. Because any other compound has not duplicated the aroma effect, menthofuran is important in the formulation of certain standardized essential oils, such as peppermint oil. However, menthofuran is an expensive compound of limited availability as the plants produce 0 to 6% menthofuran (U.S. Plant Pat. No. PP11,788). Literatures are available for the chemical synthesis of menthofuran to substitute the naturally available menthofuran (U.S. Pat. No. 4,240,969) to reduce cost of production. Also the acceptability of synthetic menthofuran is a limiting factor in determining the cost of the essential oil mixture containing synthetic components in aroma industry.
Considering the importance of menthofuran in aroma industry under ‘New Millennium Indian Technology Initiative (NMITLI) programme’ launched by Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), India, during 2001, a systematic approach was undertaken to evaluate the existing germplasm of M. piperita at CIMAP and breed for genetic enhancement towards high menthofuran biosynthesis in the essential oil. Systematic breeding experiments to allow open pollination followed by single seed progeny selection by chemotypic evaluation for enhanced constituent (menthofuran) led to development of this chemotype the variety ‘Cim Indus’.